“No Vacancies” A Landlord’s Favorite Words
One thing you can count on in business (and in life) is change…so I thought I better show off real quick before something changes.
To start off this new year, we have 87 apartments with No Vacancies!!
I can’t even remember the last time that happened.
We do have one vacant house…but houses are a different business in our world so I can brag about the apartments separately. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.)
We had huge turnover last summer. We decided it was a perfect time to sell a few houses, so we asked a few long term month-to-month tenants to leave for that purpose. Then suddenly we had some other long term tenants give us notices. Gulp.
At one point last summer we had 8 vacant houses. Eight.
Plus normal spring and summer apartment turnover.
So I was one stressed out lady when the cash/bills graphs got crossed (bills up, cash down). Filling vacancies is always my absolute top priority, so I had little time to blog. I’ll try to get in a little pontificating now.
Josh and I would like to add a new apartment complex this year, so I probably won’t be basking in the No Vacancies glow for long 🙂
Pride of Ownership
This morning I rented a house to a cute trio of roommates in a popular area.
This evening, on my way to pick up my dog at doggie-day-care, I happened to drive by the house again. The new tenants were out in the front yard playing football.
I wanted to cry. It was the cutest darn thing I ever saw.
We took the house back a couple of weeks ago, when the last tenancy ended.
My great handyman prepped and painted the interior, power washed the exterior (hey it’s white!), painted the front deck, repaired the fence, pulled the basement carpet, repaired the swamp cooler, changed the locks, plus a few other odds and ends.
My great landscape contractors cleaned up the yard and upgraded the entry landscaping to give the house better curb appeal. When they finished, the landscape contractor texted me “now this house will sell itself.” He was right. More…
Here Comes Spring Turnover!
Can you feel it? Spring is appearing and change is in the air. Our landscape contractor has already begun to clean up and beautify each of our properties. We’ve had a bunch of residents respond happily and thank us.
The last two years were “lean” so we skipped adding new black soil to the planter beds and raked them out instead. We also planted fewer new flowers and perennials. But this year we’ve budgeted for a little more beautification because we intend to compete like crazy for the great tenants that will be looking for a fresh new apartment.
Spring and summer are a residential landlord’s biggest turnover months, so get ahead of the curve with your marketing plans, and don’t forget to also do everything possible to keep the great tenants you already have!
Most of the turnover will be done by the end of July, so work smart to have every vacancy filled by then. August vacancies will be much more difficult to rent because of the reduced demand, and by September it will be super difficult to attract the few tenants that will be moving in the fall and winter months.
Now is the time to prepare to compete for the great tenants that will be in the market for a fresh new apartment in the next few months!